Page 40 of 52
Starting Episode About Circular Economy and Circularity
Part 1
The term circular economy may seem relatively new, but it’s based on ancient principles that will shape the way we do business in the future. Circularity will become instrumental to achieve profitable growth while protecting the environment. It can reach its full potential when applied systematically, using current technologies and innovations that are still in development. This article is the first in a series that will explore the digital and physical aspects of circularity from different perspectives.
By Sven Seidler, Director Consulting, ORTEC Data Science & Consulting
Mathematics has unnoticeably an enormous impact on our lives. Mathematics is everywhere. It helps us to make better decisions, and to solve tomorrow’s challenges. Discover yourself how our universe communicates in numbers.
The driver shortage is a big problem, especially in parcel delivery. In the Netherlands, 46% of transport companies say that the shortage is limiting their business operations; there are currently over 10,000 vacancies. On top of this, customers are becoming more demanding: they want to receive their packages on time, and they want to be informed accurately about parcel deliveries. This puts more stress on the driver’s side.
In this article, we will cover four ways to engage parcel delivery drivers and improve their satisfaction at work using optimization and technology.
By Goos Kant, Professor Logistic Optimization Tilburg University & Managing Partner ORTEC
“If you have to deliver between one and two million parcels per day, you need prediction models.”
PostNL has four guiding principles in its sustainability transition: CO2 reduction, livability, transparency and transformation, together with both customers and colleagues. Rogier Havelaar, who is responsible for sustainability at PostNL’s largest business unit, identifies three logistics trends: urbanization, new customer demands and data. The company has already been innovating at the intersection between sustainability and business for some time now: “Our targets are aligned with the provisions enshrined in the Paris Agreement; the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has officially established this. We also stated last year that we wanted to accelerate our greening process, and we are investing an additional 80 million euros for that purpose.”
Interview with Rogier Havelaar, Head of Sustainability Parcels & Logistics
March 16, 2022
Will AI take over our jobs? Perhaps even take over the world? And what about malicious intent? There are all kinds of myths surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI). With extensive focus on such issues, little attention is being devoted to the opportunities that algorithms and AI offer us. There are opportunities all around us, even for solving complex (social) issues. Yet... these opportunities need to be identified and tackled. What (hidden) opportunities are out there? What are the myths? And are these myths also risks? In this first part out of two, we take a closer look at the opportunities presented by AI.
A conversation with Gerrit Timmer, Co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO) at ORTEC
Automotive manufacturers have idled production, beverage producers are faced with glass bottle shortages, and demand for paper has been vastly outstripping supply. All this is compounded by acute staff shortages across a variety of industries. Is there any way of avoiding these types of problems in the future? “There’s no reason to stop using global supply chains altogether, unless you’re considering environmental factors. But we must do a better job in identifying bottlenecks and make the system less prone to vulnerabilities, so as to ensure that potential disruptions have a less detrimental impact.”
Interview with Gerrit Timmer, co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO) at ORTEC
Transportation and supply chain managers are facing a complex challenge: can they start transitioning to zero-emission mobility at a reasonable cost, without impacting daily operations? It’s an issue they can no longer postpone.
Supporting our customers in the transition to e-mobility is an important strategic topic for ORTEC. It’s an area where we can have a lot of positive impact and live up to ORTEC’s mission: Improving the world using our passion for mathematics. To engage with our customers on this topic and help them embark on this journey, we are publishing a series of articles. In this first article, we share our vision on how mathematics and data can accelerate the transition to e-mobility. We also explain how an explorative innovation workshop enables you to get internal alignment and identify which challenges are worth solving first.
Scarcity seems to be everywhere: employees, raw materials, containers, computer chips, production capacity - all of these are scarce. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global supply chains for the past two years. Experts don’t expect stability to set in until 2024.
How can data and advanced analytics techniques, like AI/ML and optimization, help us deal with scarcity? What is the added value of sharing data in the supply chain?
Interview with Goos Kant, Managing Partner at ORTEC and professor of Logistics Optimization at Tilburg University & Jheronimus Academy of Data Science. This is a complementary article to A Positive View on Workforce in Times of Scarcity.
On April 7th ORTEC hosted the Global Parcel Delivery webinar: How to engage my parcel delivery drivers using optimization?
Are you in the postal, parcel and express business? Watch this webinar and learn about the latest trends in parcel delivery, and how optimization can help to engage your parcel delivery drivers!
ORTEC Global Parcel Delivery Webinar 2022
This webinar took place on April 7th, 2022. You can watch the webinar below.
ORTEC, University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Dimitris Bertsimas of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launch Analytics for a Better World Institute (ABW), an initiative that brings together the brightest minds to pursue a special mission: applying analytics together with NGOs, the public sector, and non-profit organizations to make an impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).